15 Summary of Session 1

Decisions about spending money – particularly on major purchases – may put you under various influences and pressures, whether from society or from yourself. Some of these emanate from our personality and our behavioural traits. Some influences come from social pressures and the marketing tactics of those wanting to sell to us.

All these influences can result in poor spending decisions being made.

To take control requires having an unbiased methodology to help us. The four-step model provides this by setting out what needs to be done when making major purchases.

You examined the way the model can help make good decisions when buying insurance products – something most households do several times a year.

You also looked at internet shopping and tips to spot and avoid the scams that are found online, and ways to shop more safely on the web.

So, this session should have made you more self-aware about how and why you spend your money and more skilled at making considered decisions about what to buy.

Further reading links

Read the MoneySavingExpert.com Scam blog [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Learn more about copycat websites.

Get started with Session 2: Budgeting and taxation.